Top 5 Performance Support Strategies: Which One Is For You?

WeLearn’s previous post on performance support made it clear that it’s a crucial component of any successful learning strategy. By incorporating support in our training programs, we can improve learner performance and help learners when they need it most. 

But what types of performance support are there, and which one is right for you?

This post will guide you through five different kinds of performance support, highlight why they work, and help you find the support that matches your personal and professional goals. 

Making Performance Support Simple

Performance support isn’t about teaching learners everything about a topic; it’s about giving them concise, clear information they need to perform their best. 

1. Quick Reference Guides: Maybe you’ve tried sticking post-it notes to your computer, reminding you of tasks or tips for getting a certain project done. As you’ve probably experienced, those notes can soon become messy and disorganized, making your job more difficult than it has to be. 

• A Quick Reference Guide (QRG) helps learners reference content quickly and efficiently and saves them unnecessary hassle. 

For example, think about all of the codes and numbers that most organizations have in their system. 

A QRG would provide a compiled and condensed list of the codes so learners wouldn’t have to spend time searching the database on their own. 

2. Infographics: Studies have shown that when learners process information visually, they have a higher chance of remembering it in the long run. 

Infographics provide a visual representation of facts, content, and statistics to improve the learning process. Some common examples are:

• Charts
• Graphs
• Step-By-Step instructions
• Diagrams

Great Content Developers Get Mobile 

3. Process Maps: Process maps, similarly to a flowchart, help learners visualize how a specific task fits into an organization’s bigger picture.

Without gaining perspective on a topic, it can be difficult for learners to understand why specific steps are important. 

Process maps often include the inputs and outputs of a specific process, take on a top-down format, and include common, identifiable symbols like arrows. 

4. Mobile Apps: Smartphone users worldwide are expected to reach 3.8 billion in 2021. This means that the majority of us have a smartphone, and are using it frequently in our daily lives. 

Mobile apps are useful for employees who are on the go and might not have immediate access to a laptop, allowing them to access information anytime, anywhere. 

A great example of a mobile-app used to assist learners is The Kineo E-Learning Top Tips app, created by Kineo Ltd. This app offers learners a short burst of information on a variety of topics, including business, instructional design, and content development. 

Make sure the app you choose also features automatic updates and reminders, which help learners stay on track and organized. 

Overcoming Information Overload With Performance Support

At the beginning of a course, learners might feel overwhelmed with the amount of information presented to them. That’s why it’s important to make course content and internal communications systems stand out from surrounding digital noise.  

5. Checklists: Checklists help ensure that each step of a certain process is completed correctly, and help add structure to a potentially complex project.  

This kind of performance support is highly effective when learners have to accomplish a more complicated task or when learners need to perform the same tasks in a specific order. 

Measure your performance support: Oftentimes organizations put performance support systems in place without considering how they’ll measure their effectiveness.  

A great performance support system can soon become inefficient if it isn’t being assessed. That’s why it’s important to organize your professional goals and learning objectives before choosing a performance support strategy. 

Before implementing a performance support system, consider these key questions:

• What kind of impact do I want the performance support tool to have for my organization?

• How do I plan on measuring how learners are using the performance support tools provided? 

• What kind of work do I want learners to do and what kinds of tools would be most useful for them? Is the work memory-based? Creative? Group-work?

Performance Support For A Better Learning Experience 

Every learner is different, and here at WeLearn, that motivates us to provide the best performance support possible. 

What kinds of performance support would you like to see in your next learning course? Has your organization taken the steps to implement the kind of support you need?

Share your thoughts and experiences with us here at WeLearn, where we’ll support you from beginning to end.